AnotherMcIntosh

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Member since: Thu Dec 8, 2011, 04:02 AM
Number of posts: 11,064

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2012 (25)
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Revolving-Door Justice -- Nanny Cam Attack Suspect Did Time in Similar Crime

A man accused of attempted murder of a New Jersey mother as she watched cartoons with her 3-year-old and while being recorded by a nanny cam was previously sentenced to to prison for a similar crime. Since pleading guilty for the earlier attack, and being released, he has been convicted of 12 additional felonies around New Jersey.

For the earlier home invasion in which he plead guilty, he reportedly broke into a house and started going through a jewelry box in a bedroom, hid in a closet when the front door opened, and then brutally attacked the mother of a 18-month-old daughter in front of her daughter.

Maybe it would be a good idea if the New Jersey officials would stop their practice of letting him out so early.

http://www.theindependent.com/news/national/nanny-cam-attack-suspect-did-time-in-similar-crime/article_c2688479-b4e5-5211-974e-6be3d6ef5a67.html

Warning: This video is not for the faint hearted.

Posted by AnotherMcIntosh | Wed Jul 3, 2013, 01:36 PM (1 replies)

Elderly 75-year Old Illinois Man Who Picked Dandelions for Food Gets $75 Ticket

A 75-year-old retiree who lives in the Chicago area with his wife on a $1,500-a-month Social Security payment was caught picking dandelions by a Cook County Forest Preserve cop. At one time, the Chicago area was covered with trees and bushes. Most are gone, but some land has been set aside for the preservation of what remains. The dandelion is a weed which is not a native one.

The Forest Preserve cop gave the retiree a $75 ticket, an increase in his blood pressure, and a story to tell his wife. His court date is set for July 9th. A forest preserve cop is a political appointee who got his position by knowing someone. He can wear a uniform like a real cop. And apparently throw his weight around while ignoring common sense.

There is nothing to indicate that the Social Security retiree was picking the dandelions for any purpose other than to help sustain his wife and himself. However,

"A spokeswoman for the forest preserve district noted that foraging is prohibited there and called the practice "unsustainable, especially when it's done for commercial purposes"

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/elderly_man_who_picked_dandelions_for_food_gets_75_ticket

On the plus side, the Forest Preserve cop didn't Taze him.

Posted by AnotherMcIntosh | Mon Jul 1, 2013, 06:37 PM (7 replies)

Albert Einstein died with a nearly 2,000 page FBI file

Surveillance = unaccountable, undemocratic power over persons who have done no wrong

"One need to only look to the operation of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the late 1940s and '50s to recall a time when rights were suspended and to be accused meant to be convicted of a thought crime. Often considered the smartest man of the last century, Albert Einstein died with a nearly 2,000 page FBI file.

J. Edgar Hoover gathered secret information on anyone and everyone of consequence, which gave him power over some presidents. In the 1960s, the FBI's COINTELPRO (counter-intelligence program) secretly monitored civil rights, anti-war and even feminist groups.

Hoover's "black bag jobs" against such public activists as Martin Luther King Jr., secret blackmailing attempts and nonjudicial "disruption" of these groups is what actually led to the Church Committee investigation of abuses and the creation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which the NSA has now effectively dismantled.

Who wants to go back to the good ole' HUAC-Hoover era?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/11/opinion/rowley-nsa-surveillance/index.html

Posted by AnotherMcIntosh | Tue Jun 11, 2013, 12:08 PM (15 replies)

It you can't get a sip from a fire hose, squandering money to build a spy Niagara Falls is wasteful.

When President Eisenhower gave his farewell address in 1961, he warned us about the military-industrial complex and said:

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."

Yet, with all the massive poverty in this country and the continuing destruction of the American middle-class, there are those who are saying that they don't mind the spying upon all Americans. You've seen some of this.

What do these undemocratic trillion-dollar surveillance programs get for us?

"These programs falsely purport to get "novel intelligence from massive data." (In fact, NIMD is the actual, self-explanatory name of one such program). Few within the national intelligence community complained about the wrongfulness, illegality or ineffectiveness -- let alone the waste and fraud -- of programs that create billions in profit for private surveillance contractors, technology experts and intelligence operatives and analysts.

"But there's no evidence the NIMD theory has worked. Researchers long ago concluded that the NIMD-type promise of detecting and accurately stopping terrorists through massive data collection was simply not possible.

"Think about how Bush administration officials defended themselves from not following up on the incredibly specific intelligence warnings urgently going to Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet and National Counterterrorism Director Richard Clark in the months leading up to 9/11. Their common response back then was something along the line of: intelligence is like a fire hose, and you can't get a sip from a fire hose. There was apparently too much for top officials to even read the key memos addressed to them.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/11/opinion/rowley-nsa-surveillance/index.html

Can anything be more foolish than squandering the money and this nation's future? For what?

Posted by AnotherMcIntosh | Tue Jun 11, 2013, 11:53 AM (0 replies)

While there is a push to ban assault rifles, why not ban sniper rifles?

Here, for example, is a Remington 700:

Some civilians own this type of rifle.

Posted by AnotherMcIntosh | Wed Apr 24, 2013, 10:02 AM (278 replies)

VA ordered to show why it should not be sanctioned for denying veteran benefits

By WILLIAM DOTINGA

CN) - The Federal Circuit gave the Department of Veteran Affairs 60 days to show why it should not be sanctioned for denying veteran benefits.
...
"Federal law requires the benefits system for veterans to be pro-claimant, laying out procedural and appellate rights for veterans seeking adjudication. VA officials tasked with approving or denying benefits must actively look for ways to improve the cases of veterans both at the regional level and in the appellate process.

"In 2011, however, the VA issued an 'immediately-effective' rule that applied the pro-claimant procedures only to regional VA office dealings, stripping veterans of assistance within Board of Veterans' Appeals hearings. The National Organization of Veterans Advocates (NOVA) petitioned the Federal Circuit to review the rule, arguing that the VA implemented it without a mandatory notice-and-comment period required by the Administrative Procedures Act.

"The VA twice asked the Federal Circuit for more time to file its explanation, claiming the second time that it planned to repeal the rule. In fact, the department promised both NOVA and the appeals court that it would not apply the provisions of the new rule at all prior to publishing the repeal in the Federal Register. After claiming that it wanted the published appeal to become effective before responding, the VA won a third extension. NOVA then submitted evidence that the VA had been ignoring its promises to not enforce the rule, at least 60 cases in a single month alone.
...
http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/03/27/56120.htm

Posted by AnotherMcIntosh | Wed Mar 27, 2013, 09:09 PM (0 replies)

Can those who recognize that firearms may be needed for home defense be legitimately called gun nuts

A 1/1/2013 Google News search for "home invasion" shows that home invasions have taken place and are taking place in this country.

Some examples from a 1/1/2013 Google News search prior to posting:

Three people charged with assault, home invasion in Taney County ...
http://articles.kspr.com/2012-12-31/home-invasion_36084957

Man Pistol Whipped During Home Invasion In San Francisco's ...
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/12/31/man-pistol-whipped-during-home-invasion-in-san-franciscos-mission-district/

Two shot, one arrested in Galva home invasion
http://qctimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/two-shot-one-arrested-in-galva-home-invasion/article_9eab089a-53a4-11e2-9067-0019bb2963f4.html?comment_form=true

Jewelry Store Robbery Began with Bethlehem Home Invasion
http://bethlehem.patch.com/articles/jewelry-store-robbery-began-with-bethlehem-home-invasion

Arrest made in south Fort Myers home invasion, stabbing
http://www.news-press.com/article/20121231/CRIME/121231025/Arrest-made-south-Fort-Myers-home-invasion-stabbing

2 men accused in Prescott home invasion
http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/2-men-accused-in-Prescott-home-invasion-4158320.php

Help sought in solving home invasion, robbery, murder
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/courts-police-and-fire/2012-12-31/help-sought-solving-home-invasion-robbery-murder.html

Top 10 Stories of 2012: Brutal Home Invasion Attack Leaves Bedford ...
http://bedford-nh.patch.com/articles/top-10-stories-of-2012-brutal-home-invasion-attack-leaves-bedford-residents-on-edge

Home invasion suspect steals wedding rings from couple
http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2012-12-31/Home-invasion-suspect-steals-wedding-rings-from-couple

Police: Men Arrested After Home Invasion
http://northbrook.patch.com/articles/police-men-arrested-after-home-invasion

Some communities are even reducting police protection for its law-abiding home owners and other citizens.
See, e.g., Fifth-Most Crime Ridden City in America Dismisses a Fourth of its Police Force. 911 Still in Service
http://www.democraticunderground.com/117297556

An honest discussion would include a consideration of these issues. Those who wish to squelch an honest discussion may want to call these reports or any references to them "right-wing talking points" or "NRA talking points." To squelch discussions, they may also wish to also call liberals and progressives who recognize a need for firearms to be owned for home defense "gun nuts." What legitimate purpose do they have for doing so?

Edited to add:
In the Heller opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court held, among other things,
"1. The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. Pp. 2–53."
http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/07-290.pdf

Posted by AnotherMcIntosh | Tue Jan 1, 2013, 11:26 AM (112 replies)

Fifth-Most Crime Ridden City in America Dismisses a Fourth of its Police Force. 911 Still in Service

Oakland, California, the fifth-most crime ridden city in America, faced a $32 million budget deficit last year. It closed the gap by dismissing a fourth of its police force, more than 200 officers.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-20/oakland-pays-17-million-for-nfl-raiders-as-cops-get-cut.html

What's the law relating to self-defense?

District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), was a landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects an individual's right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_v._Heller

Aren't proposals to disarm law-abiding home owners as sensible as the reaction to invade Iraq for the 9/11 attack by persons other than Iraqis? Are all reactions good reactions?

Is crime down in Oakland? Can it be that none of the law-abiding home owners will ever need to own firearms to discourage home invasions? After all, aren't their local police just a phone call away? Isn't that true all over?

If the law-abiding firearm owners in Oakland are called "gun nuts," and if there are proposals by those claiming to Democrats to take away or greatly restrict firearms, will that have no effect upon Oakland voters in the 2014 election? By what right do any posters claim to believe that there is a left v right divide over gun ownership and that liberals and progressives oppose gun ownership and that right-wingers are the only ones favoring that? Is such an alleged belief based upon a hoax?

If a hoax has been created to exploit a real tragedy so that the Republicans can repeat their 1994 election victories after the first gun ban, isn't that something that would be appreciated by Donald Segretti, Karl Rove, and those who admire their skill with dirty tricks?

If anyone in Oakland wants a cop, just call 911.

Posted by AnotherMcIntosh | Tue Dec 25, 2012, 12:27 PM (5 replies)

Rahm Emanuel Seeks to Set Aside Verdict Involving Brutal Beating by Chicago Cop of Female Bartender

After a jury decided that Chicago has a Blue Wall of Silence which the City used to protect a Chicago cop who brutally attacked a much lighter female bartender, Rahm Emanuel has decided to make an effort to set aside the verdict.

"Northwestern University professor Locke Bowman and University of Chicago professor Craig Futterman say the city is trying to sweep 'under the rug' a federal jury’s finding that the Chicago Police Department had either a code of silence or a policy of failing to properly investigate and discipline officers."

http://www.suntimes.com/news/crime/16970378-418/professors-urge-judge-to-reject-setting-aside-judgment-in-bar-beating.html

Posted by AnotherMcIntosh | Thu Dec 13, 2012, 02:50 AM (23 replies)

Is the Constitution "just a piece of paper"?

Bradley Manning is back in the news. Or sort of. Only the British Guardian provided coverage of his testimony with the type of detail that the American press ignored. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33224.htm

His trial - or extended lack of it until now - raises some Constitutional questions. And his trial raises related questions.

How does the reported military holding of Manning incommunicado for more than 900 days, without a trial, compare with the number of days that it has held any other prisoner incommunicado? And under the conditions which Manning was held?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33224.htm

Is anyone besides the military responsible for this? The military didn't act alone. The military didn't act in a vacuum. The military didn't do this without oversight.

How does the Obama Administration's act of holding Manning incommunicado for more than 900 days, without a trial, compare with the number of days that it has held any other prisoner incommunicado? And under the conditions which Manning was held?

Even if we assume that Manning released the video showing the helicopter gunship gunning down civilians including children (and I assume that it is true), and even if we assume that Manning released copies of diplomatic cables showing the perfidy of the those involved in the military-industrial complex (and I also assume that this is true), are we supposed to overlook this type of cruel and unusual pre-trial punishment of Manning because President Obama has a big "D" after his name? Are we supposed to cheer "Hooray for our team"?

In April 2001, almost 300 law professors and other scholars (including Laurence Tribe, a widely recognized as a leading liberal scholar of Constitutional law) signed a letter to the Obama Administration. In it, they pointed out something that should be obvious to any law professor or former law professor: The detention conditions violates the Constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments.

The names of those who initiated the letter (Professors Ackerman and Benkler) and the others signing the letter be found here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20110409205745/http://balkin.blogspot.com/2011/03/statement-on-private-mannings-detention.html

Are all those law professors wrong?

Does the Constitution still prohibit cruel and unusual punishment? Or has the view that the Constitution is "just a piece of paper" replaced it?

Posted by AnotherMcIntosh | Thu Dec 6, 2012, 11:10 AM (1 replies)

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